Stop
by Aisha Iwakura
Summary: Two weeks after their marriage, Duo finds out Hilde is pregnant and leaves her. After the birth, Duo suddenly shows up and Hilde demands a divorce. One problem...Duo doesn't give up too easily...
1. Prologue

A fic that came to be one day...Enjoy.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Stop: Prologue  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Come ON Hilde, PUSH!"  
  
The nurse's voice seemed so far away...the cloud of pain around her seemed to muffle all the sounds and shouts coming from the doctors around her. She could vaugely feel a damp sponge upon her forehead as another strong contraction hit.   
  
Damn, those hurt.   
  
Her breath was coming in short, ragged gasps as she pushed with all her might, trying to ignore the pain that was shooting throughout her body. The sweat was pouring down her face, as she gritted her teeth.   
  
She was almost there...she could just feel it.  
  
Finally, the baby slipped from Hilde's body. She craned her neck to see her newborn daughter, and saw that she was a sickly blue color, and she was not crying.   
  
"Wh...Why isn't she crying...? What's wrong with her?" she asked, trying to sit up, but a nurse gently pushed her down against the sweat-soaked pillows again.   
  
"The doctors are doing all they can to revive her. Until then, you must lay down and remain calm."  
  
Hilde looked at the nurse as if she had just grown a second head. Her first child was lying there, dying, and she wasn't allowed to go see her?   
  
The nurse must have sensed her, about to break into hysterics, and appeared by her bedside one more with a needle in her hand. Hilde simply stared at the nurse in disbelief as she slid the needle into her vein, and injected the liquid into her bloodstream. Tears poured down her face as sleep began to cloud her vision. She glanced one more time at the doctors, surrounding a small table, and talking frantically. Just before she slipped into a quiet sleep, the very faint sound of a baby's cry echoed in her head.   
  
  
  
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Sunlight poured into the small hospital room and fell across Hilde's face. She opened her eyes slowly, and looked around the small, quiet room. Suddenly, she remembered her daughter and she sat up quickly.   
  
A loud gurgle from her beside attracted her attention and she looked to the crib that was sitting beside her bed. Inside lay her daughter, already named Hallie, looking perfectly healthy and staring up at her with wide indigo eyes.   
  
It was this simple shade of eye color that made Hilde frown at her daughter.   
  
She was hoping Hallie wouldn't have any of his traits.   
  
Hallie was a perfectly healthy sized baby, with the wide indigo eyes and dark midnight hair; like her mother's. Hilde smiled softly at her newborn daughter as she reached over and gently picked her up. Hallie gurgled as Hilde cradled her in her arms, showing her tooth-less gums.  
  
A knock at the door told her the nurse was coming by to check on her, but she continued looking at Hallie.   
  
"So that's her, huh?"   
  
The voice was low, too low to belong to a nurse's.  
  
Hilde looked up for a moment and gasped, clutching the baby closer to her. In the doorway, stood the very last man she ever wanted to have show up right at this moment. Duo looked different than the last time she saw him some nine months ago. He'd taken off during the night the same day he'd found out she was pregnant with his child. She'd had some time trying to support herself all alone; she'd even attempted suicide once.   
  
His braid was longer, dangling almost halfway to his knees. He seemed a lot skinnier, like he hasn't been eating correctly. His dark indigo eyes had no shine in them, like they had before when he saw her.   
  
"What are you doing here?" she snapped, eyeing him carefully.   
  
"I came to see my daughter," he replied, stepping into the room.   
  
"You didn't seem to care the night you left."  
  
Hilde's eyes filled with unshed tears, but she refused to let them fall infront of him. She clutched the sleeping Hallie closer to her chest as Duo stepped ever closer to her bedside. She caught the malicious glint in his eye as he bent over the metal railing of the hospital bed to take a good look at his new daughter.   
  
"She has my eyes," he said.   
  
Hilde nodded, still watching him. Her hand, unseen by him, was inching ever closer to the buzzer to call the nurse lying beside her on the sheet. A cold hand wrapped itself around her wrist, just as she was about to grab the buzzer.   
  
"Now why would you want to do that? I just want to talk to you," he said softly, letting go of her wrist.   
  
Hilde nodded solemnly, still clutching Hallie. Duo smirked, still leaning over the bed's metal rail.   
  
"How did you find me?" Hilde asked.   
  
"I asked around. Quatre gave me some useful information..."  
  
Hilde's eyes widened. Quatre had been coming to her house to see if she had been getting along fine. He was the one who stopped her from suicide just in time. She owed her life to him.   
  
"What did you do to Quatre?!"  
  
Duo simply smiled and leaned back, falling into one of the squashy armchairs by the bed. "Nothing serious."  
  
Hilde positively shook with supressed rage. This madman had the nerve to leave her, when she needed him most, and now he'd hurt one of his own best friends to get to her. Duo must have sensed something wrong with her, because he started to put his arms around her.   
  
"Get away from me, you Son of a Bitch!" she yelled, wrenching away from her grasp. Hallie had woken up by that time, and started to cry.   
  
That dangerous glint had appeared in Duo's eyes again and he grabbed her wrist, the light catching the golden ring around her finger. Duo eyed it curiously.   
  
"You kept it," he said, motioning to the wedding ring on her finger.   
  
Hilde nodded. They had gotten married just two weeks before Hilde found out she was pregnant. She searched his hands, and saw his golden ring was nowhere to be seen. Duo gripped her wrist even harder, and Hilde almost cried out in pain.   
  
"Hey! You!" a passing nurse said, entering the room. "I think she wants you to leave, sir."  
  
Duo snapped his head back to the offending nurse, and let go of Hilde's wrist. He brushed roughly past the nurse, and stormed down the hallway. The nurse rushed to Hilde's beside as she tried to quiet Hallie.   
  
"Miss, are you alright?"  
  
Hilde looked up to the nurse, her eyes sparkling with tears, but she held them back. She looked down to Hallie, who had calmed down, and opened her mouth to speak.   
  
"I want a divorce."  
  
  
  
  
*End Prologue*  
  
  
  
Well, what do you think? Should I continue? Does it suck? Please leave reviews! 


	2. Chapter 1

Heres chapter one...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Stop: Part 1  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Hallie, honey, come on, or you'll be late!" Hilde yelled up the stairs.   
  
It had been seven years since Hallie Rose Schbeiker was born. Seven years since she'd seen Duo, and she was absolutely positive he was out of her life forever. She remembered the look on his face when she'd showed up on his doorstep, two police officers at her sides, wanting him to sign the divorce papers.   
  
A month after the divorce, Hilde had discovered that Duo had been arrested for illegal drug use, and thrown in the colony prison.   
  
After that, Hilde and Hallie had taken the first shuttle available out of the L2 Colony, and down to Earth to live. Hilde and Hallie how lived in a comfortable, one-story condo in California.   
  
"Coming, mom!" Hallie yelled and ran down the hall to greet her waiting mother. She wore a black tee shirt, with a cute purple skirt. Her midnight colored hair was done in two pigtails, almost reaching her waist.   
  
She reached up and grabbed her lunch box from the counter and kissed her mother on the cheek before running out to the waiting school bus. Hilde leaned on the doorframe, watching her daughter pull away in the large yellow bus.   
  
Before she headed inside, Hilde noticed a strange looking black Honda sitting on the side of the road, two houses down. All of it's windows were tinted so dark, Hilde might have guessed there was a celebrity inside. She stared at the dark, and suspicious looking car before finally entering her house.   
  
"That's peculiar..." she muttered to herself, closing the front door. The mysterious black car started suddenly, and drove off in the opposite direction.   
  
  
  
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Hide hummed a cheerful song as she walked down the narrow hallway, her basket of fresh laundry clutched in her hands. She was just sitting down to seperate and fold it, when a knock came at the door.  
  
"Quatre!" she exclaimed, opening the door and finding him standing there.   
  
After Hallie was born, Hilde came home to find Quatre in the hallway closet. He had a small cut above his right eye, and he was tied up, but no permanent damage was done to him. It seemed like Duo had just suprised him, gotten the information he had been looking for, tied him up, and tossed him in this closet.   
  
"Hey Hilde! How's Hallie?" he asked, slowly stepping into the house.  
  
"Oh she's fine, at school right now. What brings you here?"  
  
Quatre's face suddenly became unusually serious and Hilde looked at him curiously. Quatre only became serious when something terrible had happened. Quatre reached behind him and closed the front door.   
  
"What's wrong...?"  
  
"Hilde, I've just heard on the news...there's been a prison break on L2."  
  
Hilde's eyes widened slightly. "How many people got loose?"  
  
Quatre cast his gaze to the sky-blue carpet, but quickly looked into Hilde's worried face with a reassuring look in his eyes.   
  
"There was only one escape. A tall male, short brown hair. That's all they said to describe him, so I doubt it's him..." Quatre said the last part quickly, seeing the slightly panicked look on Hilde's face.   
  
"Just watch out for yourself, alright?" he asked, turning to leave.   
  
Hilde reached a hand out to stop him. "Are you sure you don't want a cup of coffee or anything?"  
  
Quatre politely declined her offer. "Sorry, but I've got to catch the next shuttle up to L2."  
  
Hilde nodded and let go of his arm as Quatre opened the door. She watched him step off the porch and climb into the waiting limo and drive off. A sudden chill made it's way down Hilde's back, and she looked around the quiet neighborhood, before going inside and closing the door.   
  
As she sat down to continue with her laundry, she couldn't shake the unpleasant feeling that it was in fact Duo who had escaped from L2. Halfway through her laundry, Hilde reached over and switched on the television to the news channel. She sat watching it for a while, until a report on the L2 prison break came on.  
  
"Officials do not know how the man escaped from the prison, but for now, we can at least give you a more detailed description of the man. He is tall, around six feet, with dark blue eyes and short brown hair..."  
  
Hilde breathed a sigh of relief, hearing this. She almost hummed as she folded the rest of the laundry and brought it upstairs to put away.   
  
Ten minutes later, she was dressed and ready to go to the supermarket for a while. Afterwards, she would pick up Hallie from school. As she left the house, she did not hear the announcer, still talking about the escaped man, say something about contact lenses and the cutting of hair...  
  
  
  
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Hallie bounded down the front steps of her school, her two long midnight pigtails boucing behind her. Her lunch pail swung from side to side as she walked across the grass and onto the sidewalk at the front of the school. She looked from side to side, wondering where her mother was, and sat down on the sidewalk.  
  
Hallie looked up as her teacher walked up to her and sat down beside her.   
  
"Hallie, where's your mother?" she asked, putting a hand on Hallie's shoulder.  
  
"Oh, I'm sure she'll be here, she probably just got caught up in traffic."  
  
"Are you sure you don't want a ride home?"  
  
"Yeah, I know she'll he here."  
  
Hallie waved to her teacher as she walked away, and returned her attention to the street infront of her.   
  
At least fifteen minutes passed, and the schoolyard was just about empty, everyone gone home already. Hallie still sat there on the curb, waiting patiently. She began to twirl one of her long pigtails between her fingers, and look uneasily down the road.   
  
'Where is she?' she wondered to herself, standing up to get a good look down the other road.   
  
She suddenly looked up as an all black Honda pulled up right infront of her. The black tinted windows lowered slowly until a man could be seen inside, looking directly at Hallie.  
  
He had short brown hair that fell into his face. She couldn't tell what color his eyes were, because they were hidden behind black sunglasses. The strange man grinned, and popped open the passenger's door for her to climb in. Hallie looked uneasily at the man and his dark appearance and began to back away.   
  
"I-I was told never to go anywhere with strangers," Hallie stammered.  
  
"Don't be afraid," the man said. "I was sent here by your mother. Her car's broken down by the supermarket so she called me and asked me to come and pick you up. Now, why don't you climb in, and I'll take you home where you belong."  
  
The man grinned, almost evily, and Hallie thought it over for a moment. What if he was lying? And her mother had said never to go with strangers, even if they said they were there to help...but he did sound very convincing...  
  
"Alright," Hallie said.   
  
She climbed into the passenger's side of the car, and closed the door behind her. She didn't notice, however, her favorite hair clip fall from one of her braids, and land in the gutter. The man shifted gears rather roughly, and they sped away, down the road.   
  
"Do you know where my house is? Do you need directions?" Hallie asked, eyeing the man with suspicion.   
  
"Of course," the man said, and a small smirk grazed his face and he drove on.   
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Hilde pushed her foot down on the gas, and the car sped on, as fast as the speed limit would let her go. She had gotten held up in some incredibly bad traffic, and she knew she was about a half an hour late from picking up Hallie. Hilde glared impatiently as she got stuck at another traffic light, and made a right toward Hallie's school.   
  
Finally, Hilde pulled up to the empty schoolyard and looked around. There was no sign of her daughter anywhere, even though Hilde specifically told her to wait on the curb at the front of the school.   
  
She took one last look around the almost deserted lawn, and drove off around the school to the parking lot.  
  
"Hallie?" Hilde called, stepping out of her car. "Hallie!"  
  
Fear began to creep in toward Hilde's heart. What if something happened to her? If that happened, she would probably never forgive herself. Hilde began to walk through the school yard, searching every empty crevice or space her daughter might be hiding.   
  
Finally, she entered the front lawn, and she sat down upon the curb. Tears of worry threatened to spill from her cheeks. She didn't know where her daughter had gone, or if she was alright.   
  
Something lying in the gutter caught her attention and she bent to pick it up.   
  
It was Hallie's favorite hair clip.   
  
Hilde turned it this way and that, letting the slowly fading afternoon sun shine on it, making it sparkle. She noticed a few of her daughter's midnight colored strands still attached to the metal clip and she clutched it close to her heart.   
  
"Hallie...where are you...?"  
  
  
  
  
*End Part 1* 


	3. Chapter 2

Heres chapter two! Thanks you everyone who reviewed my fic! One day i had eight reviews, and the next I had sixteen O_o I really appreciate it and it really made my day! ^^ Sorry for the long wait, by the way.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Stop: Part 2  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Where are you taking me?" young Hallie asked, as she looked at the man with fear in her wide eyes.   
  
The man simply started straight ahead at the road, paying no attention to the young girl beside her. He still had on his sunglasses so Hallie couldn't tell exactly what he looked like. She noticed how his pale hands gripped the steering wheel with such force, his hands were slightly shaking. Hallie began to wonder, quietly, if the man was sane or not.  
  
"Do you have a name...?" she asked again, and she thought she saw his eye twitch from behind the sunglasses.   
  
It had been at least a half an hour since the stranger had taken Hallie from her school, promising he would take her home. She was so stupid to actually believe him. All Hallie wanted right now, was to be wrapped in her mother's warm embrace. She'd always been told not to go with strangers, but somehow, something drew her to this man...as if she's known him all her life.  
  
Hallie fought back the tears that sprung to her eyes suddenly, and she stared out the window as the man drove on down the empty road.  
  
  
  
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"Quatre...what am I going to do? What if we never find her?" Hilde said, her voice barely above a whisper as she sobbed quietly.   
  
Quatre put a comforting arm around her shaking shoulders, letting her cry into his shirt. He looked down at the sobbing woman with sympathy blazing in his eyes.  
  
"It'll all be okay. We'll find her, and Duo will be put in jail...I promise."  
  
His thoughts traveled to the braided man Quatre had once called a friend. They had fought side by side, and Quatre wondered if the war had made Duo go insane. The two were sitting on the front steps of Hilde's house, Hilde clinging to Quatre's sleeve. The sun was starting to set, and a few police cars circled the   
  
Hilde looked up at Quatre, her eyes overflowing with tears. She managed a small smile, before wiping her eyes with the tissue in her hand. She stood quietly, and began to walk up the worn stairs onto the porch, Quatre following behind her.   
  
"I'm sorry for being such a downer, Quatre. You can go home if you want. I'm alright," Hilde said softly, as she poured a cup of coffee from the coffee maker.   
  
"No, I want to stay. There's nothing but paperwork waiting for me back at the house anyway," Quatre responded, giving a small, reassuring smile. He made himself a cup of coffee and sat on a stool beside the kitchen island, just as the doorbell rang.   
  
Hilde set down her steaming mug, and walked to the front door, opening it a crack, and peeking through it. A man stood there, wearing the familiar Preventers uniform. The man's raven black hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his neck, and his dark onyx eyes eyed her.   
  
"Are you going to let me in, Onna?"  
  
"Oh...sure, Wufei...sorry," she said, taking the chain off of the door and opening it wide enough for Wufei to step in.   
  
The Chinese man stepped into the living room, and nodded respectfully to Quatre who still sat in the kitchen. He turned to Hilde, who was nervously wringing her hands, and led her to the couch.   
  
"Wufei, I need your help. Duo kidnapped my daughter..." Hilde suddenly became bery interested in the small tear in the couch cushion.   
  
Wufei raised an eyebrow.   
  
"Last I heard, Duo was in jail...how could he possibly steal Hallie?"  
  
"I heard about a prison break on L2...only one man escaped, but I'm positive it's him! Who else could it be?!" Hilde cried, her eyes flooding with tears again. "I just want my daughter back."  
  
Wufei cast Hilde a slight sympathetic look, before standing up again. "The Preventers will try and trace Duo's tracks, and eventually get your daughter back," he nodded to her respectfully before turning for the door. "We'll keep you posted on what's going on."  
  
Hilde nodded, still staring down at the couch. "Thanks, Wufei."  
  
He didn't say a word, as he opened the front door, and closed it behind him. The roar of a car engine was heard, as he sped off back to the Preventers Headquarters, probably to try and find Duo.   
  
Hilde sighed, and stood up also, causing Quatre to stand up and appear at her side in a flash. Hilde looked to Quatre and smiled at him. "Quatre...I'm just going to bed, it's not like I'm going to kill myself!"  
  
Quatre gave her an aprehensive look, before nodding. "I'll just sleep here in the couch, I guess."  
  
Hilde nodded also, and walked down the hallway into her bedroom. She looked up when she came to the closed door right beside her own. The door had a small sign on it, decorated with pink and yellow flowers, saying "Hallie's Room" in the middle. The moonlight from outside made the sign look darker than usual. Hilde stood, just staring at the sign for a few moments before quietly slipping into her bedroom and closing the door.  
  
  
  
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"Please...tell me where you're taking me? ...I'm scared..." came Hallie's voice, and she looked out the window at the dark landscape rolling by the window.   
  
"Good."  
  
Hallie looked up at the man, suprised that he'd finally talked after hours of silence. He still had his eyes on the road, but at least he had taken his sunglasses off. Hallie had discovered that the man's eyes were the same dark shade of indigo as her own eyes were.   
  
She had to grip the seat as the man suddenly jerked the steering wheel to the side, and the car turned onto a dirt road, and drove on. Hallie looked anxiously around and the flat plane of land all around her, a dead tree spotted ocasionally.   
  
After about half an hour of traveling down the deserted road, the car finally came to a stop outside of a dirty, one-story house. The man quietly opened his car door and stepped out, pausing a moment to stretch. He then walked around the car, and opened her door for her to step out.   
  
Hallie just sat in her seat quietly, playing with the hem of her skirt.  
  
"You've been complaining all this way, now you don't want out of the car?" he said, looking down upon her.   
  
"I don't like the way that place looks," Hallie replied.   
  
The man didn't say anything. He just stood beside the car, holding the door open. Hallie slowly looked up at him, before undoing her seatbelt, and sliding out of the car. He shut the door closed behind her, and slowly walked up the worn porch steps, Hallie close behind him. The man didn't force her, she just felt as if she should follow him.  
  
Hallie looked inside as he opened the worn, wooden door and saw a small living room, all the furniture covered in dusty white drapes. The man put his hand on the back of her head and slowly pushed her inside of the dank little house. Hallie began to wonder why he was acting so nice to her.   
  
"Please...can you tell me your name?"  
  
The man glanced down at her as he closed the door, and Hallie thought she saw a glint of what looked like admiration flash across his eyes.   
  
"Duo. My name's Duo. And you're Hallie."  
  
"How...how do you know my name?"   
  
Hallie was actually starting to feel a little comfortable with Duo as he sat on one of the old, worn sofas. She walked over, and sat on the same sofa also, but on the other side of it.   
  
She didn't trust him just yet.   
  
"I can't tell you that yet. All you need to know, is I'm not going to hurt you, alright?"  
  
Hallie nodded quietly.   
  
"Good."  
  
  
  
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Sunlight poured into the small bedroom, falling across Hilde's face. She opened her eyes, and looked around quietly before resting on the mirror beside her bed. Her eyes were slightly red, and lines were visible under her eyes. She sat up slowly and swung her legs over the side of the bed. The smell of eggs cooking in the kitchen made her smile as she pulled on a robe.   
  
"Quatre babies me way too much..." she muttered, opening her door and walking down the hallway.   
  
Quatre stood in the kitchen, wearing a pink frilly apron. He was flipping eggs over in a frying pan, and humming a small tune as he worked. The scrape of Hilde's chair against the floor caused Quatre to turn around, causing him to miss the egg as he flipped it onto the air.  
  
"Morning! I thought I'd make breakfast," he announced cheerfully, watching her worn face aprehensively.   
  
She looked up at him and smiled as he slipped a plate of bacon, eggs, and sausage onto the table infront of her.   
  
"Thanks. Nice apron."  
  
"Err...I couldn't find anything else."  
  
Hilde looked down to her plate of food, then to the empty chair beside her. She could almost see her daughter sitting there, laughing and chewing on her bacon. Quatre must have noticed this, because he set a steaming mug of coffee infront of her to divert her attention.   
  
"Eat. You look terrible."  
  
Hilde simply nodded and picked up her fork. Just as she was about to take the first bite of sausage, the sound of the living room phone reached her ears and she turned around.   
  
"Don't get up, I'll get it," Quatre said, setting down his spatula, and walking through the doorway and into the living room. Hilde craned her neck to hear what the person on the vid-phone was saying.   
  
"We think we know where Duo is hiding out," came Wufei's voice. "A pedestrian said he saw a man driving by in a black car who matched the description on TV. He also said he had a little girl with him in the passenger's seat."  
  
"Right. Where do you think they are?" asked Quatre, looking back at Hilde's lit up face for a moment before turning back to the screen.  
  
"They were last spotted driving down a dirt road somewhere in San Diego. We think you and Hilde had better come down to Headquarters, and we'll go out looking for them."  
  
Hilde smiled widely and began to eat her breakfast as Quatre and Wufei said their goodbyes. Quatre came back into the kitchen, a smile on his face.  
  
He didn't say anything.   
  
He just smiled, and continued making breakfast.  
  
  
  
  
*End Part 2*  
  
The ending kinda sucks...@@ 


	4. Chapter 3

Heres the next chapter, enjoy!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Stop: Part 3  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"What are you going to do with me?" Hallie asked, looking up at Duo.   
  
"You'll find that out soon enough. And stop asking questions." Duo replied, as he looked out the windows to see if anyone was coming.   
  
Hallie sighed and looked around the dark house. Cobwebs lined every corner of the wooden walls and floor, and it seemed like there was at least two inches of dust on every piece of furniture. Hallie looked up at Duo, who still had his back to her. She began to wonder what this man could possibly want with her.   
  
Hallie guessed that she had been lost in her own thoughts, because a hand suddenly came down upon her head. Not forcefully, but it just lay there. She jerked her head away violently, and looked up at Duo. He was looking down at her with the same cold stare, but somehow it was a little kinder.   
  
"Is your mother well?" he finally asked.   
  
Hallie blinked, and nodded slowly. "Y-you know my mom?"  
  
Duo got up again, and took his previous seat at the other side of the couch. "I know her from a couple years back."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Hallie looked at Duo and saw he was sitting rather tensely. She looked down again and started playing with the end of one of her midnight blue pigtails. "How did you know her?"  
  
Duo didn't respond. Hallie supposed he didn't hear her and opened her mouth to repeat the question. Before she could utter a word, Duo cut her off.   
  
"I was married to her."  
  
What felt like a cold wave of shock coursed through Hallie's veins. She looked at Duo, disbelief written all over her pale face. "S-so...that would make you...my father?"  
  
Duo again didn't respond. He just sat there, staring at a point on the wall across from him. After a moment of silence, Duo nodded curtly. Hallie thought for a moment before she stood up, and sat down again beside Duo. He looked down at her, puzzled, before Hallie slowly hugged him around the middle.   
  
"I've been wondering why I never had a dad," she said.   
  
Duo blinked, and returned the hug quickly before letting go. "You're not mad?"  
  
"Not mad. Suprised, but not mad."  
  
She smiled softly and leaned against Duo's side. She sighed softly, thinking of her mother and what she must be going through at this second. Duo looked down at her, and put his hand on her pig-tailed head.   
  
"We'll work something out with your mother, okay?"  
  
Hallie smiled. "Okay."  
  
  
  
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"Wufei! Slow down!" yelled Quatre, hands flying out to prevent himself from flying headlong into the windshield.   
  
They were on their way to the location where Hallie was being held, and to hopefully find her alive. Wufei obviously was anxious to get there -- he had the sirens on and was going well above the speed limit. Hilde, however, seemed to pay no mind to Wufei's driving conditions, because she kept staring out the window.   
  
"Do you think she's still alive, Quatre?" she asked, her tone calm but curious.   
  
"I'm positive. You keep your hopes up, okay?" he responded kindly, his hand going back to cup over hers. Hilde smiled at him, but blinked when Wufei made a left turn when he was supposed to make a right.   
  
"Where are we going...?"  
  
"Back to headquarters. I was instructed by Une to bring along two recruits."  
  
Hilde nodded, and adjusted her uncomfortable seatbelt.   
  
Fifteen minutes later, Wufei's blue SUV pulled up infront of Preventer Headquarters. No sooner had the truck stopped, when two women emerged from the building and walked to the car.   
  
The first girl was short -- no taller than 5'4". Her hair was dark brown with some blonde highlights, and her soft eyes were a midnight blue color with some silver. When Quatre saw her, he waved to her and the girl blushed slightly and waved back. Hilde guessed they already knew each other.   
  
The other girl was much taller, about 5'7". She had olive colored skin, green eyes, and very short maroon colored hair -- obviously dyed. She was clearly from Asian descent.   
  
As the two girls climbed into the truck, Wufei turned in his seat to face them. The girls seemed to put on innocent, angelic faces as he eyed the both of them.   
  
"You two DO know that Une practically forced me to bring you two along, Angel," he looked to the shorter girl. "And Makoto," he looked to the Asian girl. "If either of you screw up, I will personally make sure you both lose your jobs. Is that clear?"  
  
Makoto merely nodded, as did Angel. Hilde looked over at Angel, who sat beside her, and noticed a large collection of daggers strapped around her waist. Makoto had guns in holsters in her belt.   
  
Wufei gave both girls sharp looks before putting the truck into drive, and speeding onto the freeway. Hilde leaned over to Angel and whispered so Wufei couldn't hear.   
  
"Doesn't like you or your friend much, does he?"  
  
Angel shook her head. "He just hates us because were women."  
  
  
  
.....................................................................................................  
  
  
  
Duo sat back onto the couch, and looked over at a small digital clock on the table beside the moth-eaten furniture.   
  
It flashed 2:45 AM.   
  
Duo looked down at Hallie who was curled up at his side, asleep. He gave her a kind smile and gently petted her midnight-blue colored hair. Hallie stirred, and Duo pulled his hand away, but she didn't wake.   
  
Suddenly, the sound of a car pulling up into the gravel driveway caught his attention and he sprang to his feet. Hallie blinked as her head hit the worn couch and she blinked sleepily.   
  
"Daddy? What's going on?"  
  
Duo rushed over to her, and picked her up. "Shh...people are here. Go back to sleep okay?"   
  
Hallie nodded dumbly and let her head fall back onto Duo's shoulder. Duo inched quietly to the window and peeked out of the faded curtain. Wufei, gun drawn, was slowly getting out of the drivers seat, followed by Quatre, Hilde, Makoto, and Angel. He watched Hilde for a second, before turning and fleeing out the back door.   
  
  
  
...........................................................................................................  
  
  
  
"Hilde."  
  
Hilde stopped when Wufei whispered her name. Everyone had stopped and was now looking at her. Makoto had one of her guns drawn, and Angel had a butterfly in each hand. Quatre had a small revolver.   
  
"I need you to stay here. Duo might be after you as well."  
  
"Duo?! You never said who we were dealing with, Wu!" whispered Makoto harshly, fwapping Wufei over the head with her gun. "We can't hurt him!"  
  
Wufei turned on Makoto, his onyx eyes gleaming threatingly. Makoto glared back, her forest green eyes flashing dangerously.  
  
"You will do as you are ordered, Makoto. Keep in mind, you are simply a recruit."  
  
Makoto paused for a moment, before nodded reluctantly. Hilde watched this, as she sat on the hood of the car, looking worried and anxious.   
  
"But...I need to know if Hallie is alive!"   
  
"If we find her, we will bring her out to you, now be quiet!"  
  
Hilde nodded, and leaned against the winshield as the four of them crept inside the old house. Angel looked disgustingly at the moth-eaten furniture, and the cobwebs occupying every corner.   
  
"Looks like someone forgot to dust," she muttered, keeping a sharp eye out.  
  
"Duo! We know your here, so I would be useless to resist. Come out!" Wufei shouted, cocking his pistol in case Duo leapt out at him from a dark corner.   
  
Movement came from the kitchen doorway and Duo walked into the room, hands raised above his head. Hallie was nowhere to be seen.   
  
"What did you do with her?" asked Wufei, pointing his gun, level at Duo's head.   
  
"That is none of your business."  
  
Duo smirked maliciously as a loud crack of a gunshot rang throughout the small house.  
  
  
  
  
*End Part 3*  
  
  
  
WAHA! Cliffhanger! *points and laughs at Angel* 


	5. Chapter 4

Angel kept bugging me to write the next part...so here it is? Oo;;  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Stop: Part 4  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The windows rattled, and shattered simultaneously at the sound of the gunshot and everyone ducked to the ground except for Duo.   
  
Wufei instantly leapt to his feet, glass shards flying from him, and aimed his gun at Duo. He cocked the gun, but before he could fire, Makoto knocked him to the ground again. Both of them hit the floor with a loud 'thud' and Wufei yelled, trying to push the Asian girl off of him.  
  
"What the HELL do you think your doing, Onna?!" he snapped, still trying to push her away. He looked up to the kitchen doorway, and banged the floor with his fist, seeing Duo had fled. He instantly turned on Makoto again, onyx eyes flaring dangerously.   
  
"I couldn't let you shoot him! He just needs help...killing him wont make things any better!" Makoto yelled, unfazed by Wufei's cold stare. "You wouldn't shoot your best anyway, would you? You went through a war with him!"  
  
Wufei just glared at her. "I do what I am ordered. He was simply an ally and the war is OVER in case you haven't noticed, baka Onna!"  
  
"But you weren't ordered to kill him," said Makoto, crossing her arms over her chest.   
  
Angel stepped in between the two, her two butterfly daggers back in their sheaths. "It won't do any good to fight now, Duo's gone and we need to find him!"  
  
The five of them looked around apprehensively before heading out the back door, and stepping onto the dry ground of the backyard. the sky looked like someone had spilled an ink bottle all over it, then showered the mess with silver glitter. The group didn't have much time to admire the beautiful night's sky -- they had to find him.   
  
  
  
.....................................................................................  
  
  
  
Hilde twiddled her thumbs absent mindedly, wondering what was going on inside the house. A still smoking revolver lay on the hood of the car beside her. She'd been the one to shoot the mysterious shot through the window, once she saw Wufei about to shoot Duo. He'd carelessly left the weapon sitting in the glove compartment of the truck.   
  
She only hoped she hadn't hit anyone.   
  
  
  
...............................................................................................  
  
  
  
Duo stumbled through the thick brush, making his way along the side of the house as quietly as he could. Blood trickled from the small wound the single gunshot made, soaking his pantleg. He seemed not to notice the pain, though, as he stepped over a small shrub, and poked his head around the corner of the house to look into the driveway.   
  
Hilde sat on the hood of the blue truck, his back to him. With his eyes, Duo traced the elegant slope of her neck, and the graceful curve of her back. He began to wonder how he could let such a beautiful creature slip through his fingers.  
  
"Not any more," he whispered to himself. "She's mine."  
  
Duo stepped from the shadows of the house and made his way silently to the car which Hilde sat upon. A single tumbleweed brushed by under his foot and he stepped on it, making a loud 'crunch' sound.   
  
Hilde whirled around at the sound and nearly toppled off the hood of the truck at the sight of him.   
  
"You..." she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You...BASTARD!" she screamed, leaping off of the hood of the truck. "What have you done with my daughter?!"  
  
Duo simply stood there, admiring the look of anger on her face.   
  
"You always looked so cute when you were angry."  
  
More anger boiled up from inside Hilde. She fought the urge just to walk up to him and knock his teeth out. How dare he! Flirting with her, at a time like this! When he left her in the first place?  
  
"Damn you to hell," she said simply, trying not to reveal the waver in her voice.  
  
"Please...forgive me? I only did this to bring you here!" said Duo, stepping closer to her.   
  
"HA! I'm NEVER going to forgive you! And now they're going to lock you up even LONGER in that jail because you DESERVE IT!" she screamed, stamping her foot against the dusty ground. She looked Duo over once, and noticed his ever-present braid was gone. "You cut your hair."  
  
"I would've been recognized too easily if I kept it," he explained.   
  
"Don't you have any decency?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. "You kept your hair long to preserve the memory of those you loved. That just proves what a sick bastard you are."  
  
"The past is behind me, Hilde. Except for one thing. And I'd like to apologize from the bottom of my heart, for leaving you that night Hallie was concieved," he said, stepping closer to her again.   
  
  
  
...............................................................................................  
  
  
  
"Guys! Mako, Wu, Quatre! Get over here, now!" Angel yelled, bending over a rather large bush. She'd gotten the shock of her life once she had bent over the bush and found a young girl kneeling there.   
  
"What's your name?" Angel asked kindly, picking the girl up.  
  
"My name's Hallie. Are you here with my mommy?" Hallie responded, looking around as Quatre, Wufei, and Makoto came running up.   
  
"You found her!" exclaimed Quatre, taking Hallie from Angel's arms. Hallie squirmed and hugged Quatre around his neck. "Hallie, this is very important. Now did you see where your father went?"  
  
Hallie nodded and pointed to the corner of the house Duo had dissapeared behind to meet Hilde. Immidiately, there was a mad rush to get to the clump of brush at the side of the house.   
  
Wufei managed to get there first and, gun drawn, he crept along the length of the house. He noted the footprints and spots of blood that left a trail leading to the front yard of the house. Angel, Mako, and Quatre followed silently behind Wufei. Angel looked to the blood on the ground and raised a curious eyebrow.   
  
"Why's there blood?"  
  
Wufei shook his head, causing some loose hair from his ponytail to fall in his eyes. "I don't know, but if he's wounded it'll give us the upper hand."  
  
Hallie followed close behind Quatre, her tiny hand wrapped in his larger one.   
  
"What are you going to do?"  
  
Quatre looked down to the young girl with a kind look on his face. "We're going to catch your daddy and lock him up, okay?"  
  
"No! I talked to him and he said he took me to get my mom's attention! He doesn't want to be locked up anymore!"  
  
Wufei whirled around, eyeing Hallie with a menacing gaze. Hallie stared back at him, her dark eyes watering slightly. Quatre ignored Wufei and bent down to Hallie's level.   
  
"Your daddy did a bad thing, okay? No matter if he doesn't want to be locked up, we have to. Think of it like when you did something bad and your mommy put you in time out. You didn't want to go, but you had to to learn your lesson. Okay?"  
  
Hallie nodded silently and wiped her large eyes with a sleeve.   
  
  
  
..........................................................................................................  
  
  
  
"You think I'd forgive you? After you kidnapped my daughter?" Hilde snapped, stepping back even more toward the hood of the truck.   
  
"OUR daughter, Hilde. She's half mine too."  
  
Hilde stared at him as he began to walk closer with a steady pace. She backed up until he hip hit the cold metal of the truck, and her fingers wrapped around the gun that was left there. Duo glared at her and suddenly broke into a lunge the last five feet from her. Hilde screamed as the sound of a gunshot tore through the night for a second time.   
  
She could barely feel Duo's hands blindly grope her shoulders as he fell to his knees. Her numb brain didn't register the fact she was holding a smoking pistol in her trembling hands.   
  
"Hilde!"  
  
The voice sounded so far away as her vision was clouded and she fell into a dead faint.  
  
  
  
....................................................................................................  
  
  
  
"Hilde? Wake up."  
  
Hilde opened her eyes slowly and met the kind face of Quatre hovering over her. She blinked and looked around quietly and saw Wufei sitting on the worn couch, and Angel and Mako sitting in chairs at the table. Hallie sat on the floor beside the couch she laid on, asleep.   
  
"You got her back!"   
  
Hallie stirred, but didn't wake. Hilde gently stroked her soft hair and looked around at everyone else. "Where's Duo?"  
  
At those words, Wufei glared, and stabbed a dagger onto the worn couch out of anger.   
  
"We all ran to you at once when you fainted, so Duo got away while we were occupied with you. But, you shot him in the left side so he can't have gotten far."   
  
Hilde looked down.   
  
"I wanted him caught. He could come after us again."  
  
Quatre gently placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, while Hilde continued to stroke Hallie's hair.   
  
  
  
*End Part 4* 


	6. Chapter 5

Here's the next chapter, sorry for the long wait!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Stop: Part 5  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Hilde blinked as she found herself in the darkness. It was so dark she could barely see her hand infront of her face. The silence was so thick, it seemed to press in on her as if the walls here closing in on her.   
  
"Hello?"  
  
Her voice echoed in the dark, vast place, giving the mystery place a feeling of vast emptiness. Hilde looked around nervously, turning to see if there was maybe something behind her.   
  
Nothing but darkness.  
  
She jumped as a bright spotlight suddenly turned on directly above her, leaving her directly in the middle of a bright circle of light.   
  
"Who's there?"  
  
Footsteps greeted her question, and she looked around frantically. Hilde jumped once a hand landed on her shoulder, and she swung her fist behind her, trying to punch her attacker. She blinked once her wrist was grabbed and she was whirled around to become face to face with the last person she wanted to see in a dark place.   
  
"Duo..."  
  
Duo smiled softly, but she could tell the smile was forced. She glared and wrenched her wrist out of his grip.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
She could feel him start to wrap his arms around her but she stepped away. Hilde could feel Duo stiffen, and his arm reached out to grab her around the waist. Her arm suddenly shot out, and grabbed him around the wrist.   
  
"Stop. Just stop. I don't want you touching me, I don't want you coming near me. Just stop."  
  
"Why, Hilde? I want us to be together again."  
  
"That's not what I want. We're over. We were over years ago when you made the stupid decision to leave me alone and pregnant."  
  
  
  
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"Mom? Mom, wake up."  
  
Hilde opened her eyes and blinked sleepily at the voice above her. Hallie kneeled on the bed, her face inches from hers. Hallie smiled and hopped off the huge bed as Hilde sat up. Hallie had been sleeping in the same bed as her for the past month, since Hilde had gotten her back. Quatre had been kind enough to open his home to them both for as long as they needed.   
  
Hilde took a quick glance around the spacious room, then slipped out of the bed.   
  
"It was just a dream..."  
  
"Did you say something, Mom?" asked Hallie, walking over to stand beside her mother.  
  
"No, Hon, I'm fine!"  
  
Hilde smiled at her daughter, and walked out of the room.   
  
Hallie looked up at her mother and tugged at her sleeve. "Why do you seem so tense? Do you think Daddy's coming back?"  
  
Hilde blinked and looked down at her daughter. "What made you think that? And no, Daddy isn't coming back."  
  
"Because...you jump at the smallest noises...remember that morning you heard someone come in your room? You nearly strangled him before you found out it was actually Quatre coming in you bring you some tea."  
  
She stopped, and hugged her mother around the middle. "And I'd like him to come back...he told me he was sorry...and that he really loved you, and never meant to hurt you, or me."  
  
Hilde glared stubbornly and picked up Hallie. "He should've thought of that a long time ago. Now stop thinking about your father okay?"  
  
Hallie nodded solemnly, as her and mer mother went downstairs to breakfast.  
  
  
  
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Duo sipped his coffee silently as he watched the television screen infront of him. The black and white picture showed Hilde, Hallie, and Quatre sitting around Quatre's kitchen table, eating breakfast. He smiled as Hilde wrinkled her nose in laughter at a joke Hallie had made.  
  
He knew if anyone found out he had fixed Quatre's house to have tiny security cameras, he'd get thrown in jail.   
  
But he didn't care.   
  
If he couldn't be close to his daughter the normal way, then he was doing it this way.   
  
Duo set down his empty coffee mug and sighed, rubbing the tense muscles in his neck. He couldn't stand the thought that Hilde hated him. Then again, he didn't really blame her. He DID leave her alone, broke, and pregnant. He'd seen the scars on her wrists -- obviously from when she'd tried to commit suicide during pregnancy.   
  
He knew he'd have to confront her sooner or later, because the cameras he had set up were small, and hard to see, but they weren't 100 percent undetectable.   
  
"Hilde, Hilde, Hilde..." he said, standing up. "I don't know why you won't come back to me...but don't worry, because I'll have you back soon enough. Like they say, love can be a very scary thing."  
  
  
  
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Hilde laughed at the joke Hallie had just made, and took another bite of her potato. A loud clatter indicated she had dropped her fork onto her plate, and Hallie and Quatre turned to look at her. Hilde blinked as she looked at them both, and rubbed the back of her neck.   
  
"That was weird...a sharp tingle just ran down my back..."  
  
She picked up her fork again, and took a quick glance around the room. A sudden glint of light off of glass caught her attention and she looked up to the ceiling. Just barely visible, embedded into the plaster, was a small black glass dot.   
  
A camera lens.   
  
She knew Quatre didn't have security cameras, so that meant...  
  
"Hilde? Where are you going?" Quatre asked, as Hilde stood up. "You haven't even finished your plate yet."  
  
Hilde took a quick glance down to her half eaten plate, and looked to Quatre again. "I...have to go see someone. You don't mind looking after Hallie, do you?"  
  
"Of course not, but--"  
  
"Great! I'll see you both later then!"  
  
She gave Hallie a kiss on the forehead, and grabbed her coat before heading outside.   
  
  
  
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As Hilde drove, many thoughts ran through Hilde's head.   
  
"He thinks I'm stupid, like I couldn't figure out who set those up..."  
  
"Why is he doing this?"  
  
"I made it clear I wanted him out of my life..."  
  
Hilde blinked as she arrived in front of a small, one story house.   
  
"That was quick," she muttered, as she climbed out of the driver's seat, and climbed the stone steps to the porch. She rang the doorbell, and waited a few seconds before the door was answered.   
  
Wufei stood there in his traditional white tanktop and baggy pants, his hair loose and damp. He smiled slightly once he saw her there, and ushered her inside. Hilde sat on the plush couch, and sipped the green tea Wufei had poured for her.   
  
She knew she had always been on good terms with Wufei, which was unusual since he usually didn't like women. Maybe he saw something in her? She didn't know, and maybe she never will.  
  
"So Hilde," Wufei said, as he set down his cup. "What brings you here?"  
  
Hilde leaned forward in her seat, clutching her cup tightly.   
  
"I want to learn how to fight."  
  
  
  
*End part 5* 


End file.
